Ghosted (2023)

A mix of action and rom-com starring Chris Evans and Ana de Armas in the lead roles, Ghosted should have been an easy success. The familiar faces, the familiar plotting, and a succession of cameos make it an obvious choice for some straightforward entertainment. There's a reason that it's pretty much been forgotten already though. It's not good. It's hard to describe as truly awful, although I am sure some will, but it's certainly as bland as some vegetable that has had all of the flavour boiled out of it.

Evans plays Cole Turner, a young man who falls hard for Sadie Rhodes (De Armas). He thinks that it might be a good idea, after spending one day with her, to pay her a surprise visit in London. Things don't go according to plan though, with Cole soon abducted by people who believe him to be an infamous CIA agent known as "The Taxman". Can you guess who is actually that agent? Bickering, gunfights, and various hijinks soon ensue.

Written by the not-insubstantial-quartet of Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers, Ghosted is what happens when you believe that your film has enough star power to ignore things like proper wit, pacing, and characters with some depth. There is nothing to this when you remove the stars. Nothing.

Director Dexter Fletcher is often a capable talent, but he is clearly hamstrung here by the demands of delivering such studio fluff. The action doesn’t have any weight or impact, there’s a surprising, and debilitating, lack of chemistry between the two leads, and nothing is done to make things more interesting around the superficial glossy smoothness of everything.

Evans and De Armas have rarely been worse. They can be charismatic, they can be convincing with action beats and physical work, and they can be fun, but you wouldn’t know that from watching this. Adrien Brody is a main villain, but feels like the wrong choice in every scene focusing on him. It’s either him just cashing a big cheque or not able to find his way into a performance that should just be a bit ridiculous and entertaining. Nobody else makes much of an impression, and the many cameos that crop up feel like a desperate and lazy attempt to please Marvel fans. They are smug and unfunny, like so many other parts of the movie.

I still won’t describe this as truly awful, there were one or two moments I enjoyed before completely losing any optimism about it improving, but it is bad. Very bad. It deserves to be as forgotten as it already is, and I am sure the main cast members are happy to see it fade from memory so quickly.

3/10

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The Brutalist (2024)

I can easily pretend that I am able to keep an open mind when going into every film I watch, but it's just as easy for me to admit that I didn't expect to enjoy The Brutalist. A serious movie, a seriously loooooong movie (it's 214 minutes, and includes an intermission), and a serious amount of Adrien Brody being all serious just doesn't thrill me. The Brutalist is REALLY good though.

Brody stars as László Tóth, a man who has to try and start his life over again after fleeing post-war Europe in the late 1940s. He wants to get everything back on track as quickly as possible, keen to reunite with his wife, Erzsébet (Felicity Jones), and the young niece she is raising (Zsófia, played by Raffey Cassidy). Things don't go well, initially, but the passage of time allows at least one man (the wealthy Harrison Lee Van Buren, played by Guy Pearce) to see László for the talented individual he is. Will that talent be enough to keep him safe and welcome though, or is László destined to be perceived through a filter of preconceptions and prejudices?

Working on a screenplay once again with Mona Fastvold, director Brady Corbet here helms his most impressive feature yet (even better than The Childhood Of A Leader). It's still going to be too slow and sedate for some people, but there's something important in every scene here, whether it's obvious or not, and Fastvold and Corbet justify the hefty runtime of the film with a density of thought-provoking material, as well as the ever-widening scope that viewers are presented with.

Nobody really puts a foot wrong when it comes to the acting side of things (although Jones is just a little bit weaker than the others, due to her performance feeling more like a full-on performance at times). Brody fully deserves the second leading actor Academy Award that this gave him, Pearce is as good as he's been in anything from the past decade, and Cassidy, Isaach De Bankolé, Alessandro Nivola, Joe Alwyn, Jonathan Hyde, and Stacy Martin all do well in smaller roles that could have seen them easily overshadowed.

There's also some beautiful cinematography by Lol Crawley and a superb score from Daniel Blumberg, as well as many other positives I could mention from the technical side of things.

It's the ideas that will stick with you for a long time though. We've seen this kind of thing before, but not necessarily being viewed from these new angles. The Brutalist looks at the upheaval and losses caused by war, and it serves as a reminder that a genocide reverberates far beyond the list of those murdered by their oppressors. People change who they are, deliberately or not, and artists and tradespeople end up seeing a lot, if not all, of their work consigned to some historical dustbin. We lose people in a war, physical bodies broken and destroyed, but we also lose many minds and souls. It's hard to come up with some kind of ultimate total cost, but it's inevitably always a lot more than it might appear to be on paper. 

9/10

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Netflix And Chill: Blonde (2022)

Based on the biographical fiction novel by Joyce Carol Oates, although many moments feel close to some kind of a reality that we've all since become aware of, Blonde is a look at the wild and tragic life of Marilyn Monroe. Director Andrew Dominik also took on the job of adapting from the page to the screen, and there are plenty of choices made here that suggest he may not be a fan of the woman at the heart of the story.

Ana de Armas takes on the main role of Norma Jeane AKA Marilyn Monroe. She's first shown as a child (played by Lily Fisher), dragged through a number of painful and tragic moments by her ill mother (Julianne Nicholson). These moments will resonate through her entire life, as will the objectification and abuse that occurs on her journey to becoming one of the most iconic movie stars on the planet. There are various sexual encounters, there are horrible procedures based on the decisions of others treating her body as her only commodity, and there are two very famous marriages depicted (one to Joe DiMaggio, played here by Bobby Cannavale, and one to Arthur Miller, played by Adrien Brody).

I have really enjoyed a number of features from Andrew Dominik. His films generally range from the good to the great (Chopper), and he has made at least one modern masterpiece in the form of The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. I took my time getting around to Blonde because I heard a lot of negative opinion about it when it first appeared, but I knew I would get around to it one day. After all, it's often important to check out something fully to form your own opinion on it. Well . . . the majority who spoke out against this were correct. It's pretty bad.

De Armas is superb though, and I am surprised that she didn't get even more praised heaped upon her for this performance. She doesn't quite nail the accent, but she mostly delivers an interpretation of Marilyn that is uncannily close to the real person. There are also great performances from Cannavale, Brody, and Toby Huss (playing a friend/enabler as Marilyn starts to spiral into ever-bleaker depressive episodes). Some of the visuals are also worthy of praise, especially during many of the sequences shown in black and white, as are the moments that blur fiction and reality by making use of famous moments from Monroe's filmography. Those are all the compliments I have though.

In a problem similar to the overuse of CGI in modern cinema, or in the way Jurassic Park was created, there are things shown here that feel as if nobody stopped to question them. Dominik was too busy realising what he could do that he didn't wonder about whether or not he SHOULD. The prime example of this is a POV shot from inside our main character's cervix. Yes, you read that right.

I understand wanting to do something that shows the ongoing battle between the beloved figure of Marilyn Monroe and the insecure and sad reality of Norma Jeane Mortenson, and there are things that became known to people only after her tragic death in the early 1960s, but both the icon and the real woman overshadowed by the stardust deserve better than this. A couple of moments come close to making a great point (particularly a sequence showing the famous subway grate updraft in The Seven Year Itch), but things inevitably keep returning to a narrative that makes our central figure an abuse victim with serious daddy issues. That may or may not be an accurate portrayal, and there's certainly truths scattered throughout this, but deciding to show her character as defined ONLY by these elements, and doing that for over two and a half hours, feels unfair and simply malicious.

I'm still glad that I finally watched this for myself, if only for that astonishing turn from De Armas. I'll never watch it again though, and I would actively discourage anyone else watching it if they lack either my compulsive viewing schedule or patience.

3/10

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See How They Run (2022)

While you may not know the names of director Tom George or writer Mark Chappell, See How They Run is a film otherwise overflowing with familiarity, from the cast to the central play, "The Mousetrap", that is the focus of a murder investigation. There's nothing new here, but it's all done with a delightfully warm and affectionate approach to the standards of the whodunnit.

Everything starts with the murder of a sleazy and obnoxious director (Adrien Brody), and it soon becomes apparent that there are a large number of suspects, all of them involved with that hit play called The Mousetrap. Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) is put on the case, forced to work alongside the young Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan), and the two could not be more different in their approach to the whole thing. The Inspector is trying to discern various facts as he continually pieces together a mental puzzle being crafted in his mind, while Constable Stalker is starstruck by everyone she meets, but also attempts to write absolutely everything down in a small notebook she assumes will eventually contain enough evidence to point to the killer. Working together, they might just solve the murder, but that would require them to be able to tolerate one another for the duration of the investigation.

I really enjoyed See How They Run. I can see why many might view it as something too insubstantial, or even a bit too smug (considering a number of cast members are portraying real people who were involved with The Mousetrap), but it hit a sweet spot for me that some other recent works in this sub-genre managed to miss. Although the script is clever and witty, it  ever feels as if it is pointing to itself and demanding brownie points for doing such a good job, and the direction lets every main scene play out without underlining every gag or grinding to a halt in order to nudge and wink at viewers. This might all sound ridiculous, but I could mention different movies that have been guilty of making these mistakes, and it really gets in the way when you’re just hoping to be amused and entertained.

Everything is helped by the fact that the cast all pitch their performances perfectly. Rockwell and Ronan are a fantastic pairing, one being cynical and just wanting to make time for drinking alcohol and the other wide-eyed and quite naive at times, but also smart and brave when not being overwhelmed by the celebrity-studded situation. Brody has fun with his screentime (limited screentime, obviously), and there are too many other enjoyable turns to highlight just one or two. Reece Shearsmith, Ruth Wilson, David Oyelowo, Shirley Henderson (an inspired choice to play Agatha Christie), Charlie Cooper, Tim Key, and Harris Dickinson (getting to play Richard Attenborough) are all brilliant, and many of them too preoccupied with their own lives and careers to spend too much time properly caring about a murderer possibly still being among them.

There’s a delightful score from Daniel Pemberton, nice period detail throughout (I am not sure if it is all entirely accurate, but it definitely feels crafted with care), and a mix of gags that should please both fans of The Mousetrap and those just wanting to enjoy a film without having to “do any homework” (as I have yet to see The Mousetrap, I found myself in the latter camp). The more I think about it, the less I find to fault.

I hope others enjoy this as much as I did. And, yes, a small part of me hopes they can figure out a way to use these two leads in another theatre-based murder mystery. Maybe Arsenic And Old Lace could provide the same amount of fun.

8/10

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April Fools: InAPPropriate Comedy (2013)

Movie 43 was a bad movie, as almost everyone knows by now. Yes, some people liked it, but some people also like eating grapefruit. People are weird, but I digress. The main point I wanted to make was that Movie 43 was bad. So it's difficult to imagine a movie that would want to, seemingly, emulate Movie 43*. Unfortunately, that is the case with InAPPropriate Comedy. It doesn't have too much star power, but it does have Lindsay Lohan, Adrien Brody, Michelle Rodriguez and Rob Schneider in small roles.

The devil is playing around with his tablet and clicks on various apps. Those apps bring up a number of sketches, all with one common factor. They're painfully unfunny. There's also only about seven main apps that are used, which means that viewers get the dubious pleasure of watching for a second or third time something that they didn't find all that great the first time round. Here are the various sketch templates.
Brody is Flirty Harry, a cop who shoots criminals while uttering nothing but double entendres.
Rodriguez and Schneider are a couple of movie critics who review porno flicks.
A bunch of black men horse around and play sorta-Jackass stunts in . . . . . . Blackass.
Ari Shaffir is The Amazing Racist (and the only actual good element of the entire movie - the sequence with him insulting learner drivers is hilarious, even if it's too obviously set up with actors).
A psychiatrist (Schneider again) works with a sex-obsessed young woman (Noelle Kenney) and gets himself quite worked up, despite the young woman wanting to change her ways for the better.
And there's something you'll never see - a young, beautiful woman dating a poor, old man.
That's it, barring the framing device that has the devil waiting to see up Lindsay Lohan's skirt as she walks over an air vent a la Marilyn from The Seven Year Itch.

Just reading over what I've written makes me wonder how I ever got through to the end credits. Director Vince Offer, who co-wrote the movie with Shaffir, Ken Pringle, and input from some others, just throws things together with little thought for quality or consistency. The end result is a painful mess.

If you're VERY easily amused then you may find more chuckles here than I did. But I advise giving it a miss. Check out the many sketches involving The Amazing Racist that are readily available online instead.

*Of course, I was a bit unfair earlier when saying that this movie wanted to emulate Movie 43. There's every chance that Movie 43 was just emulating Offer's own 1999 outing, The Underground Comedy Movie. That was also a number of short sketches stitched together to make a movie. Whether or not it is any good is another matter, but, based on what I saw here, I'm certainly not going to rush to see it.

2/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inappropriate-Comedy-DVD-Adrien-Brody/dp/B00GV7MQX0/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1396991308&sr=1-1&keywords=inappropriate+comedy

The Brothers Bloom (2008)

The more I see and hear of Rian Johnson, the more impressed I get. I saw Brick a few years ago and didn't know what to make of it before it just kept growing and growing on me. I enjoyed Looper even while discussing the many flaws that became obvious as the end credits began to roll (flaws that didn't stop me from buying the movie as soon as it was released on Bluray). And now I have been utterly won over by The Brothers Bloom, a charming con movie with a great cast and a taste for the theatrical.

Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody play the brothers, two characters who discover the art of a good con at a very early age. Ruffalo is the elder of the two, Stephen, and he loves to plan things so well that when they happen it's all real. His perfect con would be one that really unfurls itself in a completely natural way and one where everyone involved gets what they want. His brother Bloom, on the other hand, wants to put his conning days behind him. He's confused and unhappy, despite the exciting life he leads with Stephen and their near-mute accomplice, Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi). Stephen doesn't want to lose the company of his brother and so he comes up with that movie standard, one last big job. The mark this time around is Penelope (Rachel Weisz), a rich young woman with far too much time on her hands and not enough to hold her interest. Bloom, despite himself, warms to the idea and it's not long before he's in character once more and helping a beautiful woman to get some excitement in her life while losing some of her money. Because everyone should get what they want.

Over the years, a great con movie has ultimately become as hard to pull off as any actual con scheme. I suppose it can easily be argued that the con movie is always a con anyway, attempting to wrong-foot the viewer whenever possible, but still leaving them entertained and feeling good about having one pulled over on them (everyone gets what they want). The grandfather of the con movie is, of course, The Sting, but there are many other greats to check out, with personal favourites of mine being The Grifters (if you haven't seen it already then do so ASAP), Matchstick Men and House Of Games (the directorial debut of the great David Mamet). These movies all do a fantastic job, but they also add to the pile of references that movie viewers have to choose from, making each subsequent con movie that little bit harder to get right. People know what to look out for, they know to stay mistrustful of everything and they know how things have panned out in the past.

This is why writer-director Johnson excels with his own contribution to the subgenre. The Brothers Bloom seems to acknowledge right from the very beginning that the well-known history and film presence of cons can make it hard to come up with anything completely fresh, but then it ploughs ahead anyway and wins you over thanks to the performances, the style of the film and a real sense for the theatrical. Mark Ruffalo may play a character who wants to tell a great story, and wants that story to unfold as if it's a natural thing instead of a story being told, but he feels very much like an outlet for the director to voice his hopes and dreams. He's a storyteller in search of the perfect story, which is surely what every writer-director seeks throughout their career.

Mixing comedy and some drama with some wonderful characters and great set-pieces, The Brothers Bloom won't be for everyone, of course, but it's a beautiful, intelligent and cine-literate piece of work that I'm surprised isn't given more praise.

Brody and Ruffalo work very well together and are very believable as brothers, Rinko Kikuchi gets to play one of the coolest characters I can think of in the past decade and Rachel Weisz has one of the best roles of her career. Her character starts off as someone who may just be annoyingly quirky, but soon becomes someone with an infectious joy that viewers won't want to see come to any harm, physically or emotionally. There are fantastic little supporting turns from the likes of Robbie Coltrane, Maximilian Schell, Andy Nyman, Nora Zehetner (onscreen for one brief scene only) and Ricky Jay (narrating). And eagle-eyed fans of Joseph Gordon-Levitt can spot him in the background of a party scene during the first 10-15 minutes. He has no actual dialogue or role, he's just there, hanging out and being cool.

People judging a con movie by how effectively they were conned may rate this one lower than I did because, ultimately, it's not that surprising for most of its runtime. Clues are littered throughout the script and design of each scene. However, they may be missing one important factor. The con works. Viewers will find themselves, as I did, watching for the twists and turns and enjoying each revelation and when the end credits roll they'll realise that, actually, they just enjoyed a great story. Which is what Johnson intended and what left me with such a warm glow inside and an urge to buy the film as soon as possible. Everyone gets what they want.

9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brothers-Bloom-Blu-ray-Adrien-Brody/dp/B003YUBZ66/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1364353176&sr=8-2